Took a subbing gig at an Elementary school. 4th graders. By the time I got there the teacher was part way through a math lesson. Geometry. I took over and finished that, and then it was time for the kiddies to go to lunch. After lunch, we finished the math lesson, and then it was time for the kiddies to go to PE. That gave me an hour off to plan my lecture.
That's right, I got to lecture today. The topic was Transportation Changes. I told the teacher Ii used to teach history, so she told me to forget about the text and wing it. The kids would love it. So that's what I did. Took 'em from Hunter-gatherers walkin' around, to the Industrial revolution and Steam Power. It was a blast.
I told them about Cottage Industry, and personalized it by pointing out that 200 years ago, kids their age, the boys anyway, might be contracted by their parents to be an Apprentice to a Master Craftsman. Told the girls they were out of luck. No apprenticeship for them. Just marriage and about fifteen kids, unless they take a job at a cotton mill.
You should have seen their eyes get wide. I told them about the Transportation Revolution in the 1800s; steam power used in paddle wheelers and trains, changing the way people work, how they travel, ship their goods, and where they live. people moved from rivers to towns that were lucky enough to have the railroad built through them. Other towns died out as people moved to where the action was.
Then I told them about cars. 2000 cars and 150 miles of paved road in America in 1900, 25 million cars and 650, 000 miles of paved road in 1930. Henry Ford did that. And people started moving away from the town centers, to the roads highways, and now the town centers are mostly dead and we all live along highways in suburban developments. People blame Wal Mart for towns dying. Nope. Henry Ford and Ike (the president who built the interstates).
By the time I got up to where their text book was gonna take over, it was time for the little wigglers to pack up and go. I left a note for the teacher, so she can pick up the pieces tomorrow. Good times.
On another note, I got an email from one of my former Florence students today. You might remember John Yaeger and his Nova? He graduated years
ago, went to college and became a Marine officer. Now he's married, with a new car rebuild in the works. He says...
"I'm working with a civilian contractor out here who works in the processing center. He's a personal trainer in the states, so he's been keeping me plenty occupied as his workout buddy. I'm gonna start the build on my '55 chevy as soon as I got back - my father in law procured a 454 for me, so if you thought the Nova was something, this is really gonna be great."
The "out here" he's talking about is Afghanistan. I told him I was gonna send him a care package. Denise's idea, but I jumped on the bandwagon immediately. I did it once before. My buddy Russell and his wife were livin' in England eight or ten years ago. I found out when I visited them that while they could get great salsa, they couldn't get decent corn chips. So I blew about fourty bucks on postage sendin' them a few bags of the good stuff. What are friends for?
John's wife tells me he needs stuff to help him eat up the time. Books and movies. Also, lots of snack food. I figure maybe some good cigars too. If he doesn't smoke 'em, he can always trade 'em.
Anyway, anybody out there have any ideas about what I should send the man (can't call him a boy any more, even in jest)?
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Had fun today.
Posted by FHB at 10:35 PM
Labels: sendin' a care package, subbin'
6 comments:
How good are ya' at BAKING?
No, really! Have ya' ever tasted chocolate-chip cookies baked with Tropical-Chocolate, an' then shipped for THOUSANDS of miles, only to be drop-shipped AGAIN, at their final-destination?
Yeah, they taste like SHIT, an' they're beat all to hell---but the LOVE, and FEELING someone put into 'em made-'em taste REALLY-good!☺
Better still: BEEF-JERKY. It can't spoil. I guess if a fella doesn't use it for tent-patches, he could EAT it???☺
Since they don't have dragon-flies, or mud over there---it MAY be the next-best thing...LOL!!!
Yea, I figured I'll get a few bags of the famous Florence FFA beef jerky, and maybe some San Saba pecans. My buddy John, Guard out there, says he wants to contribute to the effort. We'll get it all worked out. Also, i figure I'll toss a half dozen Kuba Kubas in a zip lock and send those too. Can't hurt.
Oh HELL! I forgot about those PECANS!!! Those would be great---they're a dinner in themselves!
Yeah, I know the "cookie"-routine is old, outdated, and---well, just---OLD!!! And I don't know if a fella can even buy tropical-chocolate anymore, except maybe at a remote-PX of some sort?
My Sis always used to send "weird-shit" to me, like Slim-Jims, "good"-cigarettes, lighters/flints, cotton handkerchiefs, my own-pair of PRESCRIPTION-sunglasses!---and even those damned-aformentioned cookies, during the Christmas of '70.
(Chu-Lai wasn't the R&R-fun-capital, like the airbase at Da Nang was, lol!)
Yeah, I started out "humpin' the bush", but got re-assigned to a supply-battalion a few-months later, after I'd banged-up my right-foot. So, they sent me to an "easier"-assignment at Chu Lai, to serve-out the remainder of my in-country "sentence".
Aww, to hell with MY-past! We need to take-care of your buddys'-present, now---and if he likes, he can throw some of the leftovers to a few of the "grunts", to spice-up their MRE's!
(He can drop a few of those damned-Kuba-Kubas' out in the mountains for those damned-Muslim snipers to find, an' hope they smoke-'em before aiming...!)
I got a cool care package once when I was teachin' on a ship. My sainted mother went out and got me Madonna's book, which at that time was being sold from under the counter of respectable book stores, like porn. I couldn't believe it. It went over BIG on the ship.
Hell, MY-Mom would've bought it, BURNED-it, and then mailed ME the ashes!
(Sis was taking a graphic-arts class at the time, and made-up a half-dozen "Lady-FIGMO"'s for me to pass-around.)
Do I still have "her"? Maybe---I WILL be looking...!!!
You seen Band of Brothers> You know the scene where the dude opens a box from his home town, just before leaving for D-Day, and finds a .357 revolver. There's a part of me that would LOVE to do something like that. Send him my little .45 with a few boxes of shells and a note saying "put it to good use." But I won't. I paid $800 fruckin' dollars for that thing, and it's probably illegal to send it anyway. And I hope he doesn't get that close to the shit to use it. Anyway...
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